Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8his foot on the defeated king’s head as a symbol of shame, 31 the “king lifts upby the chin the suppliant who has prostrated himself before his throne, andthus shows him favour” (Knight 2001:26; cf. Brettler 1993:140).In the final stanza, the psalmist appeals to God to give him victory. Both theimperatives in verse 8, “arise” ה)‏ ‏,רּומָ‏ Qal imperative of ‏,רּום “to arise”) and“deliver me” יףֵ‏ נִ‏ י)‏ ‏,הושִ‏ Hiphil imperative of ‏,יָשַ‏ ע 205:57:4), carry militaryconnotations here (see Coppes 1999:793; Hartley 1999a:415), imploring Godto enter the battle to bring the psalmist victory. The cognate noun,“deliverance” ‏,יְשּוףָ‏ ה)‏ 78:45:2), in verses 3 and 9 also seems be used in themilitary sense of “victory” (so Craigie 1998:70; Bratcher and Reyburn 1991:36;cf. NEB).In verse 8, God is portrayed as a mighty general who has “struck” (Hiphilperfect of ‏,נָ‏ כָ‏ ה 501:14:1, v. 8b) the psalmist’s enemies and “shattered” (Piel31 In connection with Psalm 110, Aloisi (2005:108) describes a “custom of the ancient NearEast in which a victorious king placed his foot on the necks of his conquered foes. It indicatesthe complete subjugation of those who have been defeated to those who have overcomethem.”101